News by Topic: Creativity And Innovation

Rochester-based company New 3D Technologies (N3T) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force to build the next generation of glasses-free 3D displays. The technology company, formerly DTI, specializes in autostereoscopic displays, which do not require any special eyewear to see the 3D effect, and is part of RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator.

Scientists from RIT and the University of Rochester aim to use virtual reality to help restore vision for people with stroke-induced blindness. The team of researchers led by RIT's Gabriel Diaz, are developing a method they believe could revolutionize rehabilitation for patients with cortically induced blindness, which afflicts about 1% of the population over age 50.

Mohammed Mostajo-Radji ’11 (biotechnology) was appointed as Bolivia’s first ambassador for science, technology and innovation in February. He is typically based out of Silicon Valley, helping to encourage technology investment in Bolivia. But on March 19 he flew back home at the request of Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, to help coordinate his country’s efforts to combat COVID-19’s spread.

RIT and SUNY ESF researchers received a patent for green wall technology that will provide craft breweries cost-effective and sustainable options for wastewater treatment.

A game design and development company, a mobile app that identifies resources for mental health support, software that monitors power line losses and line health, and a company developing an affordable wind turbine for building rooftops are the newest members of RIT’s Venture Creations technology business incubator.

Residents of a homeless shelter in Rochester are continuing to receive therapy during the coronavirus pandemic from a team of therapists in a clinical internship program at RIT. The doctoral training program began as an exercise in using telepsychology to deliver care to a marginalized and underserved population. When New York shut down in March to stem the spreading virus, the therapists were already prepared to apply the telehealth protocols in the crisis.

All current RIT graduate students are invited to pit their problem-solving skills against each other in a university-wide competition. The Office of Graduate Education is holding online semifinals for the Graduate 3-Minute Presentation Competition. Contestants are asked to address a societal problem in a three-minute YouTube video, using their research, thesis or project, or creative work.

After the shift to distance learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, RIT students like Daniel Bacon, a second-year photographic sciences major, had to seamlessly transition to classes in the virtual space. 

RIT’s Class of 2020 is getting a bonus opportunity after last week’s virtual conferral of degrees — a ceremony in the video game Minecraft that will allow them to virtually walk across the graduation stage, receive a diploma from “Minecraft Munson” and take a photo with the Tiger statue.

RIT honored its 2020 class of Distinguished Faculty—Manuela Campanelli, Satish Kandlikar and James Perkins. The Distinguished Professor designation is given to tenured faculty who have shown continued excellence over their careers in teaching, scholarly contributions, lasting contributions in creative and professional work and service to both the university and community.

Friday’s celebration of the Class of 2020 certainly cannot replace the atmosphere of a traditional commencement, which RIT plans to host on campus when it’s deemed safe. But many of graduates say they won’t let the pandemic, or the circumstances surrounding the virtual celebration, define them or their feelings about their time at RIT. (Pictured: Bradley Speck, who will finish his classes online this summer, has a job waiting for him at GE Aviation in Cincinnati, where he completed four co-ops.)

The Rochester Beacon talks to Thérèse Hannigan, director of RIT Online, and Mike Strobert, lecturer in the School of Design, about the transition to remote learning.